


all our friends want us to fall in love

by brokenbandaids



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Annabeth Chase & Nico di Angelo Friendship, Aromantic Percy Jackson, Multi, Nico di Angelo & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano Friendship, Percy is a Dork, everyone at school has a crush on nico, everyone is a Fucking Idiot (tm), giving yall the leobeth friendship we deserve, idiot children, implied jason grace/piper mclean but it can be considered platonic idrc, nico di angelo is a drama queen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2020-08-20 02:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20220331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenbandaids/pseuds/brokenbandaids
Summary: Still, he was cute, mysterious, and powerful. He was pretty intelligent too! Half the school swooned at the sight of him, behind his back obviously, though anyone doubted he’d notice if they did it right in front of his face. They all wanted to be like the select few that actually got to hear more than ten words out of him per day. They wanted to light the flame behind his eyes, if only to see it there. They wanted to know the troubled, handsome, fourth year Slytherin boy.or the one where nico is confusing and everyone loves him anyway.





	1. Chapter 1

There were quite a few speculations towards Nico di Angelo’s relationship status. The Slytherin boy was frequently seen holding hands in the halls with Hazel Levesque. Or having lunch with her under the shade of a tree. Or combing his hands through her hair as she read in the Hufflepuff common room he shouldn’t have access to. Hufflepuff of all places!

But others would swear back and forth that he’d always lean in a little closer whenever Percy Jackson spoke, that Nico’s eyes almost always flicked up when Percy walked into the Slytherin common room. They could see his face turning, not pink, but some shades warmer, as if he’d started glowing a bit internally.

Then there were the Gryffindors who saw him waiting outside their door. Usually he was there for Reyna Ramirez Arellano, with whom he was seen with almost as much as he was seen with Hazel, though less people had the courage to be around them when they were together. They were, simply put, completely terrifying. But every now and again they’d see him walking away with Jason Grace, arms gesturing wildly as he spoke.

Whenever he was with any of these people, the witnesses would swear that there was a certain glimmer in his eye, a fire he lacked when he was without them. They could see it when he’d sit in the library with Frank Zhang (another Hufflepuff, this boy really didn’t care about house prejudice), when he was being patched up by Will Solace in his black and yellow robes, or debating with Annabeth Chase over a book they’d been assigned in class, her blue and bronze tie pulled loose.

He had a patchwork of different inter-house relationships, most of them unprecedented, all of them shocking.

It would be an understatement to say that the students were interested. For one, Nico was good looking. If you were into that broody, dark, and mysterious thing, which, let’s be real, a great deal of people are. Another reason was his sister. Quidditch star Bianca di Angelo, who’d been killed by You-Know-Who in her fourth year. He’d gone off the rails for a bit afterwards, hiding in his room, going to Hogsmeade during class without staff permission (or so they thought), glaring at anyone who even thought in his direction. Eventually he’d gotten over it, though a lot of the students were still scared of him, which was completely understandable, when you ignored the fact that the poor boy was merely just an injured puppy who needed a little love.

Still, he was cute, mysterious, and powerful. He was pretty intelligent too! Half the school swooned at the sight of him, behind his back obviously, though anyone doubted he’d notice if they did it right in front of his face. They all wanted to be like the select few that actually got to hear more than ten words out of him per day. They wanted to light the flame behind his eyes, if only to see it there. They wanted to know the troubled, handsome, fourth year Slytherin boy. 

Of course di Angelo was a little harder to get to than expected, a fact that Leo Valdez found unfortunate. They were friends by proxy, but that wasn’t much help to him. He wondered how all his other friends had broken through the boy’s shell. It was almost like he’d blinked, and suddenly they were all best friends, like they’d transformed overnight and Leo’d just been left out. Even Piper was kinda maybe friends with him! They were housemates, which may have helped, but still. It wasn’t that Leo was particularly interested in the boy (except he probably definitely was), he just didn’t understand him. Not knowing was one of the worst things imaginable for a mechanic such as himself. 

When he’d first come to Hogwarts, he’d been reprimanded many a time for taking apart magical objects to find out “how they actually work.'' Time and time again, the teachers would say “Magic, Mr Valdez. They work with magic!”, and time and time again he’d say “But _ how _?”. He never got an answer. So instead, he tried to recreate all the magical objects without the use of magic. After all, machines were a special kind of magic, weren’t they? Making something move on its own would have been deemed sorcery in the past, so how different could they be. 

Extremely different, is the answer. The same way that people aren’t machines, and understanding them is much, _ much, _ harder than he previously anticipated. Though his attempts to understand people were mostly futile, he did learn one thing: people love to laugh. And henceforth, Leo Valdez set out to become the most hilarious person in the world.

Predictably, that failed. But he did succeed in becoming a class clown, which was good enough for him. It also helped to make people underestimate him, both in intelligence and general mental aptitude. His tomfoolery landed him in many a detention. He didn’t particularly care, he’d honestly be bored if he didn’t have cauldrons to clean or blackboards to erase (but seriously, _ blackboards? _ It’s like this school was stuck in the 19th century). It was through his so-called clownery that he met and befriended Piper McLean, a beautiful Slytherin girl with a sharp tongue and the most effortlessly charming personality of anyone he’d ever met. And Leo had met, or tried to meet, a great number of people he deemed charming. Everyone wanted to be her, or be around her, or be _ with _ her. She had so many people clamouring to be her friend that Leo was almost touched that she chose him. Keyword: Almost. He wasn’t to that level of desperation, _ yet _. It didn’t hurt that Piper’s dad was a rich muggle, who also happened to be Tristan McLean, the biggest Hollywood star of like ever. And her mom was a super gorgeous, super famous model-slash-entrepreneur who also happened to belong to one of the most powerful wizard families of like, ever. And that they let him stay at their estate over the summer when he had nowhere else to go. 

Of course any of his friends would let him stay with them over the summer, but Piper was without question his closest friend, and with that closeness came a bond that wasn’t easily formed with others. Piper was also the only one, besides Hazel, who knew what had happened to his mom. He wasn’t keen on telling others. The class clown was a secretive one after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry if there are any inaccuracies in hogwarts, my memory is trash and im Too Lazy to google things.
> 
> characters in their houses:
> 
> Gryffindor: Reyna, Jason  
Ravenclaw: Annabeth, Leo  
Hufflepuff: Hazel, Frank, Grover, Will  
Slytherin: Nico, Percy, Piper
> 
> the title is from the good the bad and the dirty by panic! at the disco


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> di angelo remains an idiot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i literally wrote this to procrastinate a science lab report so uh enjoy?

“A Ravenclaw girl in my Potion’s class has a crush on you.” Hazel said. Nico simply blinked in return, shuffling her books around in his arms. “She was whispering about how she doesn’t know whether or not you’re single.”

Nico let out a breathy laugh. 

It seemed that every other week some new person would whisper about him and wonder who he was dating. Nico _ really _ didn’t get it. Not only was he an antisocial Slytherin, but he wasn’t exactly personable during class either. He would only speak if spoken to, and he was always in some intermittent state of disarray. His classmates would only talk to him if they needed help, and usually they’d giggle a lot afterwards, which Nico thought was rude. Especially since the person they were making fun of was right in front of them. 

“Frank told me that this group of friends in his Divination class that sits right behind him were talking about how _ hot _ you were.” Hazel made a face that was in between disgust and suppressed laughter, which somehow conveyed exactly what Nico felt. “The entire school is basically in love with you.”

“I’m sure it’s just their offhand way of making fun of me.” Nico shifted the books again.

Hazel rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an idiot, Neeks. Whispering about how hot someone is isn’t what you do when you make fun of them.” 

“It doesn’t even matter anyways, it’s not like any of them would actually like me.” He shook his head. Hazel sighed.

“You’re such a pessimist. They all already love you.” Hazel bumped shoulders with him. “And who knows, maybe you’ll get asked to the Ball.”

“Whatever,” Nico grumbled. Stopping in front of Hazel’s Potion’s class. Hazel walked in, not looking back at him, and Nico sighed before following.

His entrance was met with a chorus of whispers and stares, nothing he wasn’t used to. He followed Hazel to her desk and dropped her books. He shot her a playful glare that she returned with a sweet smile and a hug.

“Thank you,” she said as she pulled away.

“You know it’s no problem.” He stared at her with fondness in her eyes, wondering what kind of hero he was in his past life to have been blessed with such a kind person as a sister. 

“Still,” Hazel said, smoothing his robes on his shoulders, “It’s a big help to me.” Nico had to roll his eyes and look away in order to conceal the bright smile that threatened to take over his face.

“Okay, okay,” he said, extracting Hazel’s hands, “I love you and all but I gotta go. I can’t keep pushing my luck with Persephone.” As if it was summoned, the bell for the start of class rung.

“Go! I love you, bye.” Hazel pushed him out of the room and Nico melted into the nearest shadow. 

He emerged a floor below the Charms classroom, and still out of breath, he sprinted up the stairs. He hoped Persephone wouldn’t hate him for being late. 

  


Charms was probably Leo’s favourite class. It was one of the only classes he could actually do magic in, though he did tend to set a good amount of things on fire. Professor Persephone didn’t seem to mind, always telling him that he had so much raw power that it was only natural to lose control sometimes, so it didn’t get him into much trouble (excluding that time he’d set the Prof’s robes on fire, that was _ not _ fun). Still Leo took his usual seat next to Frank, and pulled out his pen and notebook. 

Hogwarts had the whole ‘ye olden days’ aesthetic going on, but Leo thought it was completely impractical to lug around fifty feet of blank parchment and an inkwell at all times. Besides, he’d snapped so many quill tips in the one week he used them that it nearly put him into debt just replacing them. Now he had ballpoint pens and bound notebooks, as did most of Ravenclaw house (and the rest of Hogwarts, barring most of Gryffindor and a few pureblood Slytherins, who _ lived _ for the aesthetic). It made the note-taking that Leo _ definitely _ did way easier. Frank pulled out his own notebook, the cover filled with Hazel’s doodles. Most notably was the giant bear with Frank’s name etched in the nicest calligraphy Leo’s ever seen. Leo, too, had a personalized notebook that Hazel had doodled on, but he chose not to carry it around, due to his spontaneous combustion. He really didn’t want to ruin it. 

He spent a few minutes chatting with Frank, before the final bell rung and the Professor entered the class. She was about to start speaking when the door was thrown open, a mildly flustered Nico di Angelo stumbling into the class. Now, despite being a whole year below him, and essentially missing a whole year of school after the Bianca fiasco, Nico and Leo shared many of the same level classes. He was a fifth year in everything but title. Nico scanned the classroom, searching for an empty seat, before his eyes landed on the seat next to Leo. He marched over, muttering a nearly silent “Sorry” to Professor Persephone, who merely smiled softly and nodded. Nico sat next to Leo, breathing hard, as if he’d just sprinted upstairs, which was a real possibility, what with Hogwarts’s (incredibly impractical and inefficient) moving staircases. 

“You alright?” Leo whispered.

“Fine,” Nico exhaled, “Hazel just needed some help carrying things to Potions, so.” He gestured vaguely at the air, heaving a few more breaths before his breathing slowly evened a bit. Leo nodded. He turned back to Persephone, who he wasn’t supposed to call Persephone on school grounds. She was Nico and Hazel’s step-mom. Married to their father, Hades. Not many people even knew Nico and Hazel were related, much less siblings with a Professor as a mother. It wasn’t unusual for Nico to help Hazel out before class, and to many unknowing souls who had a thing for Nico, it seemed quite a romantic gesture, being late to class to help someone. Especially if that someone was the person you constantly held hands with in the hall. The person you were seen whispering to, before you both break out laughing. The poor souls were so _ very _ wrong that it was almost funny. 

“You can pick your own groups for this!” Is what Leo heard when he finally tuned back in. 

“Wait, what?” 

“Group project,” Frank leaned towards him, voice lowered, “Create a new charm by using other charms you know.”

“Oh,” he replied, “Thanks.” Frank responded with a grunt of acknowledgement, already back to taking notes. It wasn’t unusual for Leo to zone out, and Frank, being the amazing person he was, would always fill Leo in on what he’d missed. 

Frank happened to be one of the only ones in Leo’s friend group who didn’t suffer from a rampant case of ADHD, or any other learning disorder for that matter. A good amount of his friends had either dyslexia or dyscalculia, mixed in with a wide variety of attention deficit disorders. Frank was probably the unluckiest though. He was lactose intolerant. Leo would rather deal with his pent up energy than have to worry about what he ate. 

When Persephone finally stopped explaining the project (or at least that’s what Leo thought she was saying, he wasn’t exactly listening), Frank turned to face him. 

“Partners?” he asked. Leo smiled wide.

“Hell yeah.”

“Cool, we need two more people though. Persephone said it’d be great if we could have a person from each house in every group, though it isn’t necessarily mandatory.”

“Perfect.” Leo turned to his other side, “Di Angelo! Would you like the honour of joining me and Frank’s group.” Leo could feel the exasperated sigh emanating off him.

“No way!” Percy’s voice nearly shrieked. “He’s gonna join _ my _team, isn’t that right, Nico.” He elbowed the younger boy a little harder than necessary. Before Nico could even answer, Jason butted in.

“But Nico’s my best friend!” He said.

“Hey! I’m right here.” Leo protested. Jason shot him an apologetic shrug. 

“I’ve known him longer though!”

“Well I’ve been acting as a _ friend _ longer.” The two boys kept bickering back and forth above Nico’s head, the kid in question had his face in his hands, probably blushing in embarrassment. No one but Leo seemed to notice that the other kids in class were also clamouring for Nico’s attention, though in a less uh, _ direct _manner. He let a final sigh escape him before looking up at Leo, eyes pleading. Leo’s grin grew. Frank sighed in something close to admonishment at the boys’, and everyone else’s, incessant bickering. 

“Welcome to the crew di Angelo.” 

“We still need a fourth person.” Frank pointed out.

“Got that covered,” Nico said, and Jason and Percy’s bickering subsided instantly. They both stepped aside as Reyna walked up to their table. Jason and Percy looked at each other, completely defeated. The rest of the class had quieted down a bit too. 

“We shoulda known,” Percy shrugged, before walking off, Jason in tow. Reyna rolled her eyes.

“Idiots,” she muttered.

“You can say that again,” Nico agreed.

“Well squad, I think this project is gonna go great.” Leo clapped his hands together once, and everyone else wore a different expression of near-regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also all the seven + reyna are in year 5 minus hazel (and nico)  
hazel is in year 3 and nico is in year 4 tho they have skipped a few classes bcuz i said so


	3. Chapter 3

The “squad” ended up in the Ravenclaw common room after class. The original plan was to work in the library, but that had come to an end when Nico tripped over a stack of books, knocking them over. Leo’s laughter didn’t stop for a solid five minutes as Nico simply lay on the floor, face down. 

They got kicked out before Leo could catch his breath. 

Then they tried the Hufflepuff common room, but the second Hazel walked in and draped herself over Nico, resting her head on Frank’s shoulder, all concentration was broken. Frank’s face was completely red.

Afterwards came Slytherin, where Piper Mclean and Percy Jackson decided to become the biggest nuisances of all time, pushing and prodding at their friends for attention. At this point, Nico had had enough and tried to drag his friends into his room, only for the stairs to spit them all out in a heap of multi coloured robes. 

They didn’t even try Gryffindor.

The Ravenclaw common room housed enough books to fill half the library, a corner filled with nothing but paint and empty canvases, an entire wall of boardgames, and Annabeth Chase, who had completed her fifth year Charms class the year prior, even though she had taken almost all the electives presented to them. She sat by the group, quietly completing her homework and occasionally inputting some advice. About an hour into the discussion, their work was derailed.

“Ok but say you _ were _ an animagus,” Leo said, waving his arms, “What animal would you be?” 

“Leo, I can literally turn into any animal I want,” Frank said.

“Yeah but if magic had to decide what you were-”

“Bear,” Nico said, “Frank would be a bear.”

“Wait, _ what?” _

“Agreed,” Reyna nodded, “And Nico would be a cat.”

“_ What?!” _It was Nico’s turn to exclaim.

“Pretends to hate people but is actually soft,” Leo listed, ticking off fingers for every trait, “Kind of scary unless they like you. Yeah that’s pretty accurate.” 

Annabeth nodded. Nico blinked, his face completely blank, yet somehow confused. “I don’t know whether or not to be offended.” 

Leo threw his arm around Nico. “It’s a compliment, unless you’re a dog person. In which case, feel free to be offended.”

“I’m just not an animal person.” Nico shrugged, an almost smile on his face.

“Hazel would be a horse,” Annabeth said, matter-of-factly.

“What makes you say that, besides the obvious.”

“She’s a free spirit, looks nice and friendly from afar, but is completely terrifying if you hurt her or the people she loves. Also will not hesitate to run you over.”

“That,” Nico started, “is surprisingly true.”

“OH MY GOD GUYS.” Leo shot up. “I just had _ THE _ greatest idea of like, ever.” 

Skeptical faces surrounded Leo, but he didn’t care. Annabeth looked genuinely interested, having spent the most time around Leo while he was working, she knew that he was a lot smarter than he let on. He was even cunning enough to be a Slytherin. 

“SO.” He clapped his hands once. “What if we make a charm that can show you what your animagus would be? Sort of like a patronus but without the magical protection part.” 

“Dude,” Frank said, a smile slowly overtaking his face, “That’s genius.”

“I know.” Leo was getting more and more smug by the second, as the questioning faces around him started to morph into shock and then appreciation. He grinned warmly at Annabeth’s proud beaming smile, a rare and gratifying experience. It made him feel like he was actually smart, worthy of the blue and bronze of his house. 

Out of everyone, Nico’s reaction was by far the most tame, at least if you weren’t paying attention. There was a sort of manic gleam in his eye, an unreleased breath in his lung. There really wasn’t a reason for this dramatic of a reaction from any of them, let alone Nico, but it may have been caused by the images that came to mind when he said: 

“What if the charm can temporarily turn them into that animal as well?” 

The sheer havoc that could cause nearly made Leo burst into flames. Reyna smiled approvingly, never one to back down from a challenge. Frank was the only one who was hesitant.

“What if they turn into a dragon or something? That wouldn’t be very safe.” 

“Yeah but chances are we’re the only ones who will ever use the spell, and the only one of us who even has a chance of turning into a dragon is Leo.” Nico’s arms flew wildly as he spoke, becoming more and sure every second.

“Or, you could just use the spell on me,” Annabeth said. Her eyes were nearly pure silver, completely terrifying if you asked Leo, and he had a feeling Annabeth knew exactly what she would turn into if the spell succeeded. 

“Then it’s settled,” Reyna said, “We can meet up somewhere whenever you’re all free.”

“I have _ just _ the place.” 

Trekking across Hogwarts and up seven flights of stairs was _ not _ something Leo had expected to do voluntarily. Yet here he was, halfway up the sixth flight, completely out of breath and about three steps from collapsing. He cursed the note Nico had slipped him in Potions, the slip of paper gripped tightly in his hand. This would have been a lot easier if the second flight of stairs hadn’t moved while he was on them, forcing him to take a different route that included going down a different staircase only to go up another. 

Still, he kept trekking, reminding himself that he wasn’t just doing this for himself, he was doing it for his team. Group projects were some of the only assignments Leo took completely seriously. It wasn’t like he thought everything else was a joke or anything, he did actually care about his studies. It’s just that he was more careful in group projects, because if he messed up, then it wasn’t just him that suffered. 

Leo is totally okay with screwing up his own grade for a laugh or for a more authentic experience, but when it came to other people, he didn’t want to be a burden. Being detrimental to someone else was the last thing he wanted, considering he was always an outsider anyway. 

He finally finished the last flight of stairs, and promptly fell to the floor. His breathing was laboured and his eyes slid shut. _ I’ll just take a teensy nap, _ he thought. _ Then I’ll get to work. _

Unfortunately, his moment of peace was cut short by one Annabeth Chase. “Why are you lying on the ground, Valdez. It’s filthy.” He opened his eyes and sure enough, his housemate was standing over him, lips pressed together, eyes sharp and scary. _ She must be feeling happy today. _

She reached for Leo’s arm and pulled him to his feet. Flicking a glance at her wrist, she declared that they were running running late. Leo decided not to mention that her watch was currently sitting shattered on his desk, awaiting repair, not on her left wrist where it usually was. They started towards the corridor Nico had named in his note. 

It was as she dragged him down the hall that Leo realised that there hadn’t been anyone else on the stairs alongside him. And yet Annabeth had arrived not a minute after him, without even breaking a sweat. His profound respect and admiration of the girl grew even more. 

Leo and Annabeth had met on the first day, after being sorted. They were the outsiders of Ravenclaw, the blonde girl and the fidgety little boy. Most of them had assumed that Annabeth was an airhead, and that Leo was weak and stupid. They were easily proven wrong. Before the end of the week, Annabeth had hexed three people for bullying her or any of her friends, and punched a person in the face for saying she was nothing more than a dumb blonde. How anyone could think blondes were dumb after meeting Annabeth, Leo didn’t know. While she was out there terrorizing bullies, Leo had tested out of the entire Arithmancy course, and mastered the few charms they’d started to learn. He also set fire to the DADA classroom, _ without _ his wand. After that, the Ravenclaws apologized, and no one ever messed with them again. 

Annabeth came to an abrupt stop, making Leo bump into her. He hadn’t even realised he’d spaced out, but in that time, they’d arrived at their destination. 

“This is a wall,” Annabeth said eyebrows creased.

“Not for long.” A figure appeared out of the shadows at the end of the hall, and Leo nearly jumped out of his skin.

“_Jesus Christ Nico, _” Leo said, muttering some curses under his breath, “You need to stop doing that.” Nico just smiled. 

Since none of them could legally apparate anywhere without an adult, Nico had taken it upon himself to avoid the stairs as much as physically possible. And so, he invented what he called “Shadow Travel”. He used the darkness to hop from one shadow to another, though it took a lot of effort and didn’t always work exactly how he wanted it to. He’d tried to teach everyone else how to do it too, but the only person who was even remotely close to getting it right was Hazel, and she had a thing about loopholes being unethical. It didn’t stop her from breaking a plethora of other rules though, and Leo suspected it was simply because Hazel enjoyed walking places with her brother that she was so adamantly against breaking this one specific rule. 

“Reyna and Frank are on their way up, and they’re bringing some more advanced charms textbooks with them.” Nico walked in front of the wall. And then he did it again. And again. And when he stopped next to Leo and Annabeth, there was a simple wooden door on the previously empty wall. 

“Fascinating,” Annabeth said, hand hovering above the door. Leo hummed in agreement.

“It’s called the Room of Requirement,” Nico said, opening the door. “You just walk in front of the wall three times while thinking of what you need, and it’ll deliver.” He ushered the other two inside.

The room was wide and open, a few desks pushed against the wall, notebooks and papers already spread on them. The floor was carpeted and the ceiling was high, there was a small counter in the corner and Leo spotted a kettle sitting on a hot plate.

“Why’s there so much tea?” He walked over to the counter, plucking a tea bag from the box and placing it in a mug. If the room gave him tea, he was going to drink it. 

“I guess my subconscious wanted some.” Nico shrugged and took a seat on the couch that surrounded a table full of snacks.

Annabeth inspected the carpet, muttering under her breath. She nodded her head twice and looked up at Leo.

“Set the ground on fire,” she said, like it was a completely normal thing to tell your friend while they made you tea. But Leo, never one to disobey people who could literally kill him with a thought, did as he was told. The fire didn’t catch. “Thought so.” Annabeth seemed satisfied by that, moving to sit next to Nico and graciously accepting the cup of tea Leo had made. 

As they waited for their remaining two teammates, Annabeth told them about a few of the charms she’d learned in class that she thought might come in handy. She also included some extra things she’d learned in transfiguration and stuff she’d learned from her mother over the years of reconnecting. Just as she was about to start explaining patronuses, the door flung open and Frank and Reyna walked in.

“So, as I was _ saying _,” Annabeth said after the others had settled in, Reyna on Nico’s other side and Frank on the floor near Leo’s armchair. “Patronuses generally take the same form as your animagus, though it isn’t always the case.” There was a certain gleam in her eye that said she knew for sure. “But the patronus charm is difficult to cast, and it takes so much energy. Plus you can’t cast other people’s patronuses, or patroni, and you can’t turn into the animal anyways.” She sipped her tea. “Any ideas on where to start?” 

Reyna was poring over one of the notebooks Annabeth’s mother had gifted her, and she leaned over Nico to point something out to Annabeth. As they spoke, Nico sat, trapped between the two. It took everything in Leo not to burst out laughing. Nico was squirming uncomfortably, his eyes flicking between the two girls at such a speed that he looked cross eyed. 

Reyna and Annabeth’s conversation didn’t seem to be waning, and they started talking faster and faster, as if nearing a breakthrough. No one else seemed to be following, and Nico looked about three seconds from melting into the couch. 

And then he did. 

He popped up next to Frank, who yelled and jumped. Nico and Leo locked eyes for a split second before they burst out laughing.

They didn’t get much work done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do i know where im going with this fic? vaguely  
am i gonna keep spewing slightly plotted fluff until i figure it out? probably  
ANYWAYS im very very happy because people are actually reading this??? what?? so if u read this or left kudos then just know i APPRECIATE U SM!!! LIKE !!!!!  
so uh  
hope u enjoyed this chapter  
bye x


	4. Chapter 4

The next few weeks passed in a blur, and soon the Charms project wasn’t the only thing plaguing Nico’s mind. There was a winter formal coming up. 

Usually, the only dance they had was at the Triwizard tournament, which  _ technically _ doesn’t happen anymore, except it did. Chiron and Mr D weren’t around most of last year (for reasons relating to the year before that), and Quintus, the replacement vice headmaster and DADA teacher, somehow convinced both Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to participate. He’d spewed some inspirational quotes about how, in his day, it helped with inter-school unity and whatever. But considering the fact that they found out he was a magically altered automaton who’d been carrying around Daedalus’s soul, memories, and personality, his stance on the tournament made a lot of sense. The tournament had been outlawed after a string of violent “accidents” that left many students, champions and sideliners alike, severely injured. But apparently, after nearly forty years, everyone had forgotten the carnage. Quintus’s time at Hogwarts was a good five hundred years before the accidents though, and he obviously wasn’t up to date with the modern wizarding world. 

Nevertheless, the Yule Ball had excited a great deal of students, and they had later campaigned to have a dance without threatening the lives of the four (yes _four_) champions. With Mr D reinstated as headmaster and Chiron essentially doing his work for him once again, it wasn’t too hard to pass the motion. And so, the winter formal was born, and Nico’s peace and calm was forever shattered. 

Breakfast was usually a nice and quiet ordeal. If you ignored Percy shouting about whatever horrible romance novel his mother had made him read (Nico had a sneaking suspicion that Sally  _ knew _ just how horrible they were), and all the other ranting and loud noises there were, you could have a relatively peaceful morning. The ruckus never really bothered Nico, who was still unused to being surrounded by masses of friends who actually wanted him there. He found it endearing that they didn’t care how incredibly loud and annoying they were being. Which they were, loud and annoying, that is, but Nico said this with all the fondness he could muster. He truly was happy to be there. But obviously something just  _ had _ to come along and ruin it.

“Mornin’,” he said, sitting down next to Frank, who was chatting with Hazel. Frank smiled in acknowledgement before turning back to continue his conversation. 

It was still quite early, so there weren’t many people in the Great Hall, and the soft rumble of voices was so fragile, Nico was afraid he’d shatter it by breathing. The serenity was suspended in the air, the sunlight drifting down through the windows. It was an idyllic scene, a warm cup in his hand, a beautiful breakfast in front of him, his friends slowly trickling in, the stretch of a classless Saturday ahead of them, and the gentle contentment tugging at Nico’s heart. It was as perfect as one could get in a world like theirs.

And then the owls started to fly in. 

“Oh no,” he muttered, hiding his face behind his mug.

“Oh  _ yes _ ,” Percy replied, manic grin spreading over his face as the first owl dropped a letter in front of Nico, barely missing his breakfast. “If you don’t want those, I can owl them to Mom. She’ll need the new material.”

“Aren’t her books supposed to be  _ good _ ?” Piper quipped. 

“Don’t be rude, Pipes,” Leo chimed, “They’re all just trying to get a piece of Neeks.”

“Leo, I  _ swear to god _ -” Another letter fell down in front of him.

Nico sighed and picked it up. He held it away from his face and gently ripped it open. The paper fell to the table. Nico released a breath. Then the paper picked itself up and started to sing. He let his head fall to the table as Mariah Carey’s rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” started blaring. Why him?

Leo had to admit he felt like a bit of an ass. Singing a song that was so obviously causing your kind-of-friend a lot of pain wasn’t the best move, but hey, it’s a good song. So he sung, and Percy and Piper joined in. Eventually, the song faded, and the paper fell, lifeless, to the table. Nico quickly snatched it up, his eyes flicking across the page in an almost frantic manner. He slumped his shoulders and passed the paper to Percy, who took his time reading it. Once he finished he folded it up and pocketed it, before casting a charm on the other letter, making sure it wasn’t a howler. He then snatched that one and shoved it with the first letter. 

“I just don’t understand why everyone is trying so hard to embarrass me!” Nico looked flustered, his face a little flushed and his hair sticking out. “I’ve never done anything to these people.”

“You’re a complete idiot,” Hazel said, “They’re literally asking you to go to the dance with them, and you  _ still _ think they’re trying to embarrass you.”

“I’m with Hazel on this one,” Percy said. Leo nodded, mouth full of toast. “Why is it so hard to accept that people want to hang out with you? I mean  _ we _ hang out with you.” Nico shot him an unamused glare. Leo swallowed the toast.

“If you want the letters and love confessions to stop, then just get a date to the ball,” Piper said, spearing her eggs. 

“I will,” he turned to Hazel, but before he could speak, she shook her head.

“I can’t,” she said, flicking a glance at Frank, who was shrinking into himself, face turning red. Nico groaned. Leo loudly pretended to gag. Piper reached over the table and high fived Frank, which he responded to by saying Hazel was the one who asked. Leo thought he heard Percy mutter “Fucking finally.” It was a mess. And Nico still didn’t have a date, a fact that he would not let go of.

As Leo, Percy, Jason, and Nico walked to Hogsmeade, all anyone would talk about was the winter formal. 

“Piper and I are going together,” Jason said, “Though she swore that if I even tried to make her dance, she’d cut my arm off and slap me with it.” Jason shook his head. “She said the same thing last year, and she ended up being the one who made  _ me  _ dance.”

“Well I’m going alone because taking just one date would be unfair to everyone else.”

“Didn’t you say you’re alone ‘cause Annabeth said no this time,” Nico said, raising his eyebrow. 

“Annabeth only said yes last year because all the champions  _ needed _ a date,” Jason replied, earning a snowball in the face for his trouble. 

“Oh it’s ON,” Jason yelled, wiping the snow off his face. Percy started to dig around in the snow, and Jason, remembering Percy’s strong ties to anything involving water, smartly decided to start running. 

“I swear to fucking god they’re gonna kill each other one day,” muttered Leo solemnly. His seriousness caught Nico so off-guard that he laughed, loud and true. 

Now, Leo wouldn’t admit this to anyone, except  _ maybe _ Piper (maybe), but Nico’s real laugh was just about the nicest sound he’d ever heard in his life. And if he stared at his rosy face a little longer than he should’ve, and felt a little warmer after seeing the joy stretch on Nico’s face, if he maybe wanted to hear that laugh again and again, well who could blame him. 

A smug Percy and a very soaked, very red, and very annoyed Jason were waiting for Nico and Leo at the entrance to the Three Broomsticks. They awkwardly shuffled in as Jason tried not to drip too much on the already wet floor. When they settled into a table in the far corner, Jason excused himself to go use the drying charms that were set up in the bathrooms this time of year. 

“So Leo,” Percy said, slurping his butterbeer loudly, “Who are  _ you _ going to the dance with?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Leo sighed.

Last year, Leo had gone to the Yule Ball with the Beauxbatons champion, Calypso. They’d become very good friends in the short amount of time she was there, and they spent the entirety of the ball dancing somewhat gracefully while attempting to shove as much food in their faces as possible before someone noticed their puffed cheeks and stoppered laughter. Leo really liked her, but he knew that it just wouldn’t work out. There was a war brewing, and after what happened with Castor and You-Know-Who (who he would be calling by name if names didn’t have power, but they do), he knew that a relationship just wouldn’t work out in his favour. Especially not long distance. 

“I could ask you the same thing, Perseus,” he replied, before lifting his own mug to his lips. 

“Touché.”

“Well  _ I  _ don’t have anyone to go with,” piped Nico.

“We know, Nico.”

“It’s causing me problems.”

“We  _ know _ , Nico.”

“Speaking of,” Leo said, “I think that boy over there is going to ask you to the dance.” He jerked his head across the room towards a black haired boy with wire-framed glasses. Nico recognized him as Mitchell, his roommate. 

Since Nico was technically a fourth year, he shared a room with the other fourth year Slytherin boys. But since Nico was in all the fifth year classes, he didn’t really know them. Sure, they were polite to each other and Nico would frequently explain things they didn’t understand, and he would let them use his old homework and stuff like that, but he wouldn’t consider them the same kind of friends he considered Frank, or Reyna, or the others. 

Mitchell was especially the anomaly. No one really knew how or why he got into Slytherin, but it might have been due to his tendency to use his looks to get what he wanted. When he didn’t try, he was slightly above average looking, with clear blue eyes and dimples in both cheeks and his mildly hideous glasses that somehow made him look cute. But when he  _ was _ trying, well, he could probably rival any of the heroes from the Greek Myths. 

But Mitchell was quite shy, and incredibly kind, and Nico  _ really _ didn’t want to have to reject him, because he’d be sharing a room with him every single day until he graduated, and he absolutely could not handle that. 

“Oh no,” he said, eyes going wide.

“Oof.” Leo cringed, “That bad?”

“No. Except for the fact that I share a room with him and will have to face him every single day after I reject him and I’ll probably die from either guilt or embarrassment before I even attend the stupid dance.” His head sunk lower with every word he said, and at the end of his sentence, his forehead was resting on the table, which probably wasn’t clean, but Nico didn’t care, because his entire life was about to be over anyways.

“Did Nico die?” Jason asked, returning to his seat about a million years after leaving. Just because the heating charms were there, doesn’t mean they worked. 

“Not yet,” Percy said. A mischievous grin spread across his face, because he obviously had a thing for drama. Sally was to blame for that, always telling him exciting stories instead of letting him break all his bones at a skatepark like a normal five year old. 

While Percy filled Jason in on Nico’s woes, Mitchell was slowly inching his way over to their table, some of him and Nico’s other roommates and various other fourth years seemed to be cheering him on silently. Nico made a mental note to never be nice to anyone ever again in case they took it the wrong way. 

“Hi Nico.” And Mitchell was there, in all his awkward blue eyed dimpled glory. Nico was starting to wonder if he actually  _ wanted _ to reject him. 

“Hey Mitchell,” he replied. Mitchell’s face got three shades pinker. He would not make eye contact. Nico could not handle this in the slightest.

“So, uh, I was wondering,” he said, his foot somehow digging into the ground, “If you had a, uh, date to the, uh, dance.” He rubbed the back of his neck, finally looking Nico in the eyes. And he was probably subconsciously using his magical charm or whatever, because the words seemed to have slipped right out of Nico’s throat. 

His entire brain was suddenly working overtime. If he said yes, he’d be subjected to slight awkwardness every single night until the dance, where he would be subjected to extreme awkwardness for the entirety of the event. And it would probably be awkward after that too. But if he said no, then it would  _ still _ be awkward. But if he said yes then they might actually go on a real date and as much as Nico didn’t hate the idea he didn’t exactly think Mitchell would understand everything that had happened to him and now he was thinking too hard and suddenly nothing made sense at all.

There were no fully positive outcomes to this situation. But before Nico could even choose the slightly less awkward answer of “I’m probably not going to go,” Leo’s voice chimed in, and Nico couldn’t help but be at least a little bit grateful.

“He’s actually going with me,” he said. 

“Oh… I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah it was a pretty spur of the moment decision y’know.” Leo slung his arm over Nico’s shoulder, “But hey we’re friends so why not.” 

“Right,” Mitchell said eyeing them, “Friends… “ He trailed off. “Well, nevermind then.” He smiled awkwardly, looking slightly dejected, but not as sad as he probably would have been if Nico had said no outright.

He walked off, and instantly, Nico deflated. He groaned and his face returned to the table.

“You’re welcome.”

“Thanks, Valdez.” 

Percy and Jason were failing to hold back their giggles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i may or may not be thinking too hard about this fic now.  
im sorry i dont know how to write but hopefully u enjoyed nico being an absolute drama queen for about 2k words. 
> 
> later skaters
> 
> x


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am a simple gorl. i love friendships and stupid looking clothes and tea.  
pls enjoy me projecting these feelings
> 
> also fair warning, next chapter gets a bit uhhh angsty????????? bcuz i gUess im integrating real plot now so fun!  
so enjoy this fairly light chapter before i start to Hurt People.
> 
> k ly bye!!

Leo can't say that he knew what he was doing when he told Mitchel that he and Nico were going to the dance together, but he couldn't exactly say that he regretted it either. Was it completely thoughtless and almost out of line? Probably. Did it help a friend out while also giving dateless Leo someone to hang around all night? Yes. Did it start to unravel the mysterious anomaly by the name of Nico di Angelo? He'd see about that.

The fact of the matter was that Leo would do almost anything for his friends, something that had been proven over countless nights of sneaking into other houses common rooms, explaining Arithmetics or some other subject to a group of Slytherins or Hufflepuffs or occasionally Gryffindors when they had the gall to ask for help. It was the shattered watch sitting on his desk, an heirloom from Annabeth's squib father. It was the words that slipped from his mouth when his friend was in need, because that's what friends do, right? They help each other.

“Guess what, Pipes,” he said, swinging into the Slytherin common room after a 1st year who Leo had tutored let him in. Piper did not react.

“I said.” He sat next to her on the couch, sticking a hand between her face and the piece of parchment she was scrutinizing, “ _ Guess what, Pipes _ .” She sighed and looked up.

“What?”

“Guess.” She pretended to think for a second, stroking her chin and making a humming noise.

“You… set something on fire?” He shook his head. “You set  _ someone _ on fire?” He shook his head again. “I’m out of ideas.”

Leo flung himself into her arms dramatically. “Oh, ye of little faith, Pepperoni.” She scrunched her nose. “I-” he pointed to himself, “-Have a date to the dance.” 

Piper finally reacted.

Well, she raised a skeptical eyebrow, but that’s still a reaction, so Leo took that as a win.

“Well not like a date-date but a person-to-hang-out-with-all-night-date.”

“So, a date.” It was Leo’s turn to scrunch his face, but she  _ was _ technically right. He didn’t want to think too hard about it. He was not a fan of his overthinking headaches. 

“Well, that’s all,” Leo said, extricating himself from Piper’s grasp and heading towards the door, “Just wanted to inform you.” He winked.

“Leonardo, get back here and tell me who your date is or so help me god I will hunt you down.” Piper greatly enjoyed calling him by the wrong full name, especially since it unnerved Leo to no end. His mother had chosen that name, and who did anyone think they were to go against Esperanza’s wishes.

“I don’t know any Leonardos, but if I meet one, I’ll let him know.” He stepped out the door, walked halfway down the hall, and waited. 

Less than a minute later, Piper emerged, her bag slung over one shoulder, robes hastily tied. She ran up to Leo and smacked the back of his head. They walked.

It was a sort of tradition for them to do this sort of thing. Some conversations were better had whilst walking. It was probably just the ADHD talking, but Leo felt a lot less nervous when he had the option of turning on his heel and running away at any minute. Not that this was anything to feel nervous about, just two bros hanging out at the dance because one of the bros didn’t want to endure the awkwardness of having to go with his roommate. But Nico saw Leo almost the same amount as he saw his roommates so doesn’t that mean he would start to feel awkward around _ Leo _ after the dance? Or was Leo different since they were friends and also didn’t sleep in the same room and neither of them were romantically interested in the other or maybe Leo was the same and after the dance Nico would never speak to him again and all the work Leo had done to be friends with him would go to waste and then his whole friend group would kick him out because really, who would they rather keep, Nico fucking di Angelo or poor Leo Valdez who said a stupid thing at a stupid time and ruined everything. _ Oh my god this is going to be a disaster! _ They’re even in the same Charms group and he  _ really _ can’t afford to ruin his nearly perfect score. He couldn’t believe he’d done something so stupid and-

“Ow.” Leo rubbed his head where Piper had hit him (not gently but also not hard) with her book.

“I’ve said your name about four times and the chatter in your brain has kept you from hearing me so stop it.” She replaced the book in her bag. “So,” she said, “Who are you going to the dance with?”

“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise to not kick me out of the friend group if this one night ruins everything, okay?” Piper was one of the only people who understood Leo’s train of thought. His incredible self-doubt and a lingering sense of anxiety tinted everything that went through his brain, and Piper  _ gets it. _ She’s also the only one who wouldn’t question how one dance might end up getting him kicked out of their circle of friends, the ones who were fighting a war together, and have been together almost since they started at this school. 

“I promise I’ll stay friends with you no matter what. I can’t guarantee the others will, but if they stop being friends with you over something as petty as a school dance, then fuck them anyways.” She bumped their shoulders, Leo bumped back. “Now tell me who you’re going with or I’ll force Veritaserum down your throat.” They both laughed at that.

“Alright, alright.” He straightened up and leaned in, lips practically touching Piper’s ear, “I’m going with-” 

Leo and Piper were whipped away from each other. A shadow towered over them as they each lay in a small heap on either side of the hallway.

“Mr. Valdez,” said the shadow, “Ms. McLean.” The shadow made a shrill discontented noise, “I expect you know the rules.” The shadow’s Rs were rolled, voice pitched so high that only dogs could truly hear it.

“Sorry, Professor,” Leo grumbled, more talking to the floor than to Hera.

“Ms. McLean, your uniform is horrid, straighten it up  _ immediately. _ And do  _ not _ let me catch you breaking the rules again, or it’s a week’s detention with the Harpies.” 

“Yes, Professor,” Leo and Piper chorused, standing up and scurrying away from the devilish shadow trapping them. 

Piper’s eyes screamed murder, Leo was sure his weren’t any better.

“I’m going to-- ugh.” She tightened her fists, glaring at the hall as if it had personally offended her. Leo swore he could feel heat emanating off her body.

“Nico,” he said, a weak attempt to diffuse the tension, “I’m going with Nico.” 

“To the dance.” He added, when Piper just looked at him weird. Her face visibly loosened. And a few seconds later she was laughing.

“I did  _ not _ see that coming,” she said between laughs.

“What?” Leo grasped her arm to keep her from falling over, “What’s so funny?”

“Just.” She wiped a tear, gulping in breaths to stop her laughter, “The mental image of you and Nico dancing.” She laughed again. Leo pouted exaggeratedly. “Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop.” 

She did not stop.

They continued to walk. Where they were going, neither of them was completely sure. 

“How’d that happen, anyway,” Piper asked once she’d regained her breath. So Leo recounted the story of his heroic sacrifice that kept Nico from having an awkward life with his roommate for the rest of eternity. He may have embellished a little but honestly, what’s the harm in that. They reached the Ravenclaw common room, and stopped in front of the door just as Leo finished his story.

“So yeah,” he said, “That’s how Nico got the privilege of going to the dance with me.” He made a hairflipping motion, curls bouncing around. Piper smiled and Leo couldn’t help but feel warm. She tends to have that effect on people.

“Leo,” she said, facing him. The air around them shifted. Her face was soft, her hand was on his shoulder. “You are an amazing friend.” She cupped his cheeks. Voice lowered, she continued, “I know how much she meant to you, and I know it might be hard for you to just go to the dance as if she was never here. But I’m proud of you for helping Nico even though you probably felt like you were betraying her.” Leo’s heart swelled, his stomach twisted into knots. 

Piper was right, because of course she was. Leo  _ did _ feel like he was betraying Calypso, even though they both knew staying together wouldn’t be feasible. They both knew the only choice was to split up. But being around her was the most alive he’d felt in a while. He could truly be himself, sadness, bad jokes and everything in between. And she… she loved him anyway. Piper had been one of the only ones who believed him when he said he loved her, everyone else thought it too soon to feel something so deep, but of  _ course _ Piper knew better. Piper knew because she loved so fiercely that it hurt. Because the second she’d hopped into Leo’s compartment on the way to school she’d smiled and stuck her hand out. Because even before the first winter break they’d come to think of each other as family. Piper knew because she was well aware of what it’s like to be loved by Leo, and though his love for Calypso was different, it was similar enough to notice. 

“Listen, I know you probably don’t think this, but Nico is a good guy. Incredibly trustworthy, super loyal. He would do anything for his friends and family. Honestly, he would do anything for people he barely knows if there was a reason. If you don’t feel like going to the dance, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind letting you skip. Actually, he’d probably skip out with you.” She made an amused sound at that. Her hands had wandered back to Leo’s shoulders, and she’d pulled him in closer, their foreheads almost touching. “Just tell him if you need to leave, okay.” Leo rolled his eyes.

“Okay,  _ mom _ ,” he quipped. 

Piper beamed. 

“I love you.” She kissed his cheek.

“I love you, too,” he replied, pulling her into a hug.

And he knew, everything would be okay. 

Okay so maybe Nico was less grateful than he initially thought. Because now he actually had to go to the damned dance. Not only that, but Hazel had used the fact that he had a “date” to go shopping. With special permission and accompaniment from Hestia (who was off doing her own shopping), the school matriarch, they were now strolling along a muggle shopping center with Annabeth and Percy.

“I still  _ cannot _ believe you rejected me for her!” Percy threw his arms up in exasperation. Annabeth remained unbothered. 

“I thought you were glad you didn’t have a date,” Hazel said.

“I’m not  _ glad, _ I just don’t care.” He crossed his arms, “But it’s the  _ principle _ of the matter.” Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Well sorry for asking my crush out on a date,” Annabeth sighed, patting Percy’s arm once, “I’ll save a dance for you.” This seemed to satisfy him, as he simply nodded and continued sipping his drink.

“So,” Nico said, “Why am  _ I _ here?”

“You have a date, so you need a new outfit,” Hazel said pointedly.

“It isn’t a date. It’s just Valdez.”

“Still.”

“You could just say that I’m here to help  _ you _ pick an outfit. That would be a valid reason, and I wouldn’t have to change clothes.”

Hazel glared at him.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw you wear something that wasn’t your school uniform or your pyjamas,” Percy said. “You are in desperate need of some clothes.”

“Last I checked, I wasn’t wearing either of those things right now.” Percy rolled his eyes. 

“You know what I mean.” 

Nico sighed.

The shopping mall was a thing of wonders, or maybe that was just the fluorescent lights and their mind numbing brightness tricking everyone’s brains into  _ thinking _ that the shopping mall was a thing of wonders. It was about as cool as a bunch of stores linked together by some halls and a food court could be, though there was the occasional store that piqued Nico’s interest, mostly due to the fact that they didn’t look like they belonged. 

One of these, was a tea shop filled with brass kettles that smelled of sandalwood, though it was probably just some of that weird smoke they use to cleanse places of demons or whatnot. The storefront itself was a jarring contrast to the rest of the sleek, modern stores surrounding it. Made almost entirely of wood and stained glass, the store boasted a million different teas as well as a variety of kettles made from differing materials. Nico even saw a wooden kettle which he thought was incredibly ironic. He wondered if he could charm it to actually become fireproof enough for use. Christmas was fast approaching and he had decided that even though he didn’t want to be here, he would put this visit to some actual use. There was definitely someone he knew who would appreciate the hilarity in brewing tea with a wooden kettle. 

“Hurry up, Nico,” called Hazel from outside the store, refusing to enter because “It has a bad vibe and it smells weird.” He rejoined her and recounted the tale of the slightly spooky shopkeep, who had taken one look at him and declared that he was born of a devil and a star, and he would carry their burdens his whole life. She then shot him an intense glare when he paid with a debit card instead of cash. 

It was around noon when Hazel finally found a dress she actually liked. It was a knee length velvet dress in a beautiful shade of burgundy, with long sleeves that flare out at the wrist and “Pockets guys! It has pockets!” Percy had also acquired his Item Of Clothing, since he would be re-wearing the same suit as last year. He had picked out a light blue bowtie with various cartoon sea creatures dotted on it. 

“ _ I _ think it’s incredibly stylish,” he said, whipping his bag around.

“Well you're not the one who’s going to have to see it all night,” Annabeth quipped back.

“It’s kinda cute though, you gotta admit.” Hazel clutched her own bag tightly, as if the dress would float away if she let go.

“If you’re a five year old going to a dance with your mom,” Nico said, “ _ Then _ it would be considered cute. But you do you or whatever.”

“Friendship with everyone is cancelled. I’m only friends with Hazel now.” Percy slid his arm through hers and stuck his tongue out at the other two. Hazel giggled into her hand.

“What a shame,” deadpanned Annabeth.

“How will we  _ ever _ recover.”

Nico and Annabeth laughed. Percy stuck his tongue out again.

Life was good. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new years, here's some Angst
> 
> ahahah idk what this is
> 
> enjoy???

And then it wasn’t. Because the formal was two days away and when Nico slunk into his Defence class (late, after having sprinted to the Great Hall for a piece of jam covered toast because he somehow missed his magical alarm), the board read “Myths of the mystical arts” and the Professor was propping open their infernal textbook in front of the class. He groaned.

The entire year had been spent learning theory from a children’s picture book instead of actually learning spells and tactics to well, defend against the dark arts. Their teacher seemed adamant to ignore the reality of the brewing war, despite the fact that the only reason she was here was because Daedalus (in his automaton form Quintus), had sacrificed himself in the Battle of the Labyrinth in order to collapse the Chamber of Secrets and it’s surrounding tunnels. People had died and Professor Hera was  _ still _ pretending as if nothing was happening.

Not only that, but she was also enforcing stupid rules that everyone had to follow because of the fact that she was part of the Council and also Minister Zeus’s wife. 

“Listen here children,” she said as the rest of the class shuffled into place. “Today we will be debunking myths about magic. Dark magic that is.” Nico heard Leo, accompanied by the rest of the class, sigh. He himself had already read the entire “textbook” for the course along with all his friends. It was a mere 100 pages and half of them were pictures. None of the pages were relevant to the actual course. Every DADA class made him want to die a little bit more than usual. 

Percy, who was also in this class and was sitting next to Piper who was sitting next to Leo who was sitting next to Nico, raised his hand. When Hera pointedly ignored him, he spoke anyways, just like he always did with Professor Hera.

“I don’t understand the point of this lesson,” he said. The Professor visibly tightened up. “What’s the point of knowing something is a myth if we can’t defend against the things that  _ aren’t _ myths? The class does happen to be called Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor.” He hastily tacked on for some semblance of politeness. 

“Mr Jackson,” she spat, “I really would appreciate if you don't question my lessons. And besides, what purpose would learning to defend yourself serve when there’s nothing to defend against.” She smiled demurely, tilting her head. Her eyes held a challenge, and Nico could already sense the headache of a class coming.

“ _ Nothing to defend against _ , I’m-- Professor, you do realise the only reason you have this job is because the last Defence teacher  _ sacrificed himself _ to protect us from the  _ Death Eaters _ who had infiltrated the school. You know, Death Eaters, Grandpa Death’s loyal servants or whatnot, who usually use dark magic, the thing you’re supposed to be teaching us to fend off.” With the whole ‘names have power’ thing preventing them from actually saying His name out loud (well  _ usually _ they didn’t use it, but sometimes they’d invoke his name in the hopes that he heard all the horrible things they said about Him), the students of Hogwarts had taken it upon themselves to give the Serpent King of Righteous Genocide as many stupid nicknames as possible. They knew that fearing his name would only increase Mr Murder Man’s ego as well as stoke the flames of fear in the students who had faced his minions time and time again.

“I am  _ well aware _ of the unfortunate incident of your previous professor’s demise,” Hera’s thin veil of control was starting to slip, every word getting sharper and sharper, “But may I remind you that Daedalus was a criminal who evaded death by unnatural means, and he most likely invented the story of the infiltration in order to make himself seem heroic in his last moments.” Her lips tightened and her eyes were piercing, daring Percy to respond and face whatever consequences she had in mind. 

“He ‘ _ invented the infiltration _ ,’ that is the single most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.” He was standing now, chair slapping into the desk behind him. “We were  _ there _ when it happened. People  _ died _ , Professor, and you’re telling me that he  _ made it all up. _ ” His voice was getting louder and louder, his expression angrier and angrier. Faintly, Nico could hear the pipes creak overhead. “Look, I understand that most people at the Ministry don’t want to believe that there’s another war coming, but it’s happening. I saw Castor, and countless others, die right in front of my eyes last year.” He was shaking a little now, and Nico had the urge to reach out and comfort him, something he learned was a natural instinct for friends and family. “The year before that it was Zoe and--” Percy’s eyes flicked towards Nico, “--Bianca. People are being killed. My friends are being  _ killed _ and I don’t  _ care _ if you don’t think there’s a war.” Percy was yelling now, and the class was stuck somewhere between shock, awe, and anger at Hera. Piper looked about half a second away from standing and yelling alongside Percy, or even hexing Hera, though Nico knew she wouldn’t do something so stupid. Percy walked up to Hera, who was so tense she was almost about to snap the wand in her hands. “You may not believe us now,” he said, going quiet, “But when the war comes, and it  _ will _ , you’re going to regret it. I’ve seen it all firsthand. I’ve seen armies forming and people turning to his side and children being shot down mercilessly. And I’ve seen him.” Hera’s eyes went wide. “Because Kronos is back, and there is nothing,  _ nothing _ that will stop me from destroying him once and for all.” 

The class was completely silent. Percy turned back to his seat, not to sit, but to gather his things. 

“When you finally decide to teach us something useful, I’ll come to class.” He shouldered his bag, and instinctively, Nico started to pack up as well. “Until then, I don’t think I’ll be wasting any more of my time.” He walked out the door, followed by Piper, Leo and Nico. 

They made it about halfway down the hall before Percy stopped. He was still visibly shaking, fists balled up. Nico knew that if he turned to face them there would be tears running down his face, so he did something Bianca always did to calm his down when he was like this. He dropped his bag, walked up to Percy, and hugged him. 

He held onto him so tightly that his own arms started to shake. He held onto his as Percy dug his face into his shoulder, as he dropped his bag and their legs finally gave. He held on even as he felt the tears start to fall down his own cheeks. He held on and then suddenly people were holding on to him. He felt a face bury itself in his other shoulder, he felt hands digging into his shirt and he felt another arm wrap around him. 

And the four teenagers, all frightened and traumatised and hurt in their own way, sat on the floor, in the middle of the hallway during class, with their bags spread around them, and for what was most likely the first time in a long,  _ long _ time, they cried. They cried for the ones they’d lost, they cried for the sacrifices that were made. They cried because it was  _ unfair _ , because they were just kids, and they’d already been through so much. Been through too much. They cried because the weight of the world was hovering above them, and if they made one wrong move, everything would be destroyed. 

They cried because they knew they had to keep going. And when they were all out of tears, they gathered their things and they stood. They had all made a simultaneous decision. Kronos needed to be defeated, and since the school wouldn’t teach them how, they’d have to learn themselves. 

Because they will let nothing stand in their way. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update yall, school is kicking my ass
> 
> also i. i have no fucking clue what this is.  
i swear it's relevant. or relevant enough i guess.  
anyways i hope u enjoy  
x

Less than half an hour and two secretly sent messages later, they had successfully gathered Annabeth, and Reyna. Jason and Frank were also in Reyna’s class, but decided not to skip out. Jason because he said it was wrong, Frank because he felt the need to, y’know, actually learn sometimes. Hazel happened to have a flying lesson, making it nearly impossible to fetch her. 

Percy lead the group with a fierce determination that could have only been mustered by someone who’d been through the things that he had. They sped through the halls silently, hoping they wouldn’t get caught and knowing they’d continue their plan even if they did. 

“Is it wrong to feel excited by this,” Leo whispered to Nico, “I’m not sure if that’s the right word, but I’m just glad I’ll be able to do something you know.” 

Nico did know. “Yeah, I get that.” He’d been watching Percy since they started this mission, his face had not grown any less determined, his features tense. “I just wonder if I knew what I know now before, if I could have… done something. Saved someone.” He glanced towards the floor. Leo sighed.

“Me too, dude.” He bumped their shoulders, voice far away, “Me too.”

Their plan, hastily thrown together and ridiculously simple for the work it entailed, was to, essentially, learn the things they were supposed to be taught and teach them instead of relying on the likes of Hera for protection in the fight that was sure to come in the next few years. 

They knew that, if it weren’t for Hera, they’d be able to hold these ‘classes’ publicly, but since Hera had started to enforce useless rules like the Ministry puppet she is they knew they’d have to keep their little organisation a secret (Her’s rules included but weren’t limited to: No talking above a whisper in the halls, Uniforms must be neat and tidy, and the most recent and probably the most annoying one: Boys and girls must not be within five inches of each other-- this one pissed Nico off, since it prevented him from hanging too close to Hazel.

Thankfully enough, a great deal of their parents were apart of the Council and  _ not _ as blind and stupid as some of the other Ministry members. 

Leo’s father was a bit of a recluse who kind of, really, did  _ not _ like people, so he was out of the question. Besides, he wasn’t exactly chummy with his son.

Percy’s father had only spoken to him a total of three times, and was a bit too high up in the chain of command to be asked for help. 

Piper’s mother was, to put it nicely, an agent of chaos. She would watch them all suffer if it made a good show. 

Nico and Hazel’s father was, once again, a bit too high on the chain of command (though all he really did was the paperwork that Zeus and Poseidon didn’t want to do), and he was definitely too exasperated for this type of thing. Persephone, on the other hand, would most definitely be helpful.

So would Annabeth’s mother, who, despite being Zeus’s decisive favourite, was also a being of immense pride, and considering she had predicted this second war and was one of the only people on the Council who was trying to get everyone to take emergency measures, she would do anything to prove the people who opposed her were wrong.

All the other parents wouldn’t be of use for one reason or another (except maybe the father of their Hufflepuff friend Will Solace, though Apollo might be more useful in the form of contacting Artemis, one of their former DADA teachers who was actually competent at her job), even telling any adults their plan was a bit of a risk, so they knew they needed to be as unsuspicious as possible. 

Persephone would most definitely sign off on them borrowing books from the restricted section, not to mention her own collection of advanced magic books and her scarily wide knowledge of incredibly violent spells. Despite being a Charms professor, she was also quite good at potions too. And most importantly, she hated Hera (and Zeus, for that matter), with a passion that could not quite be matched. Nico knew she would use any excuse to fight either of them.

Chiron would also help, though probably a lot more discreetly. He could round up his centaur friends and teach them archery, though how useful that would be in a fight against magic is questionable. If anything he could provide them with excuses to use if anyone questioned their whereabouts. 

Either way, they needed to defend themselves, and they needed to do it  _ now. _

“So,” Annabeth said as they settled into her room after she somehow blocked and disabled the charm that kept people out, “After tomorrow is the formal, and I think it will be the perfect time to spread the news about our… what are we calling this?”

“Operation fuck Hera,” Leo suggested. Annabeth smiled.

“As much as I agree, I think that’s a horrible idea,” Reyna said, “Especially since the person we’ll be cursing out is a chaperone for the formal.”

“What even is the point of having chaperones since we’re literally staying in the castle,” chimed Piper, inspecting one of the many books stacked haphazardly around Annabeth’s section of the room. Annabeth swatted her hand away.

“Doesn’t matter, nothing here makes sense anyways.” Percy was pacing around the room. The rest of the group shared some glances. He obviously still wasn’t doing alright.

“Percy,” Annabeth said, her voice soft and comforting, “Are you okay?” 

He shook his head.

“Is there anything we could do?” 

“It’s just.” He sat down hard on one of the beds, “I know there’s a prophecy. And- and I know it’s about me and that I’m supposed to be the one who saves the wizarding world from destruction. And I know that I can do it. Or at least I believe I can. But I definitely can’t do it alone.” He looked at them for a second before facing the ground once again, “I know that I have all of you guys and practically the entire school behind me but…” He trailed off.

“You don’t want to put anyone in the line of fire,” Annabeth finished, sitting next to him. “I get that, I really do. Just keep in mind that you don’t have to carry these thoughts alone, alright.” 

“Just… if I’d known a little more magic a few years ago, I could have saved people’s lives. But I didn’t and they paid the price for that.” Silence fell over them like a suffocating blanket.

“It’s not your fault,” Leo said, voice sharp as a needle, his eyes holding a flame that Nico had never seen before. “Unless you actually killed them, then it isn’t your fault.” Piper was slowly inching towards Leo, like she knew something that everyone else didn’t, which was possible, since those two were quite close.

“But if I could’ve done something--” 

“Percy.” Leo’s voice was stern, something no one was really used to. “It was _ not _ your fault. Trust me.” The words sounded as if he’d had to repeat them a million times, as if the simple truth wasn’t enough to convince him of its authenticity. 

Leo’s brows were stitched together, lines showing up on his face that aged him at least ten years. Nico had the sudden realisation that this might actually be the real Leo. This sullen, serious creature could be what was behind that mask of lively cheer. This boy with the fire in his eyes and the weight of a thousand lives mapped on his face. With the obsidian shadow that followed him even in the dark, and the magic so raw and so powerful that he could burn the world with a thought. It was poetic, in a way, the world engulfed in flames by a boy so hidden in shadows.

“It’s not just you who thinks this either,” he continued on, snapping Nico back to attention, “There are so many people I could have helped, so many people we  _ all _ could have helped, if we’d just known a little more or been a little braver. But we didn’t, and we weren’t, and it wasn’t our fault.” He was gripping Piper’s hand now, and Nico finally started to wonder what had happened to Leo that made him feel this way. What had hit him so hard that he crumbled. He wondered if the boy had pulled himself together again piece by piece, the same way he’d done after Bianca. He wondered if anyone had helped him. “Isn’t that the point of life, though. To be better than you were before. Be greater than the you of yesterday. To become a little smarter, a little braver, a little more alive with each breath.” He was edging slightly towards desperation, and Nico knew it was because the doubt was flowing in. Someone had been hurt in Leo’s midst and he’d been powerless to stop it, yet he still blamed himself. It had probably taken a long time for him to convince himself, and maybe others, that it wasn’t his fault, but every now and again, a little voice would whisper in his ear, calling him weak, telling him it should have been him instead. 

This was him trying to silence that voice, for himself and for Percy. 

“You’re absolutely right.” Annabeth’s eyes were steel, her voice was stronger than diamond. She was daring anyone to oppose her, and unlike with Hera, no one would risk it. 

Because she was another who’d been powerless when someone needed her. Well, powerless was the wrong word for this specific situation, but she’d recognized that helping would hurt her more than it saved anyone. That the person she was trying desperately to pull into the light had already made his choice. His fate was already sealed. It probably weighed on her harder than anyone else.

After Bianca died, Annabeth had found Nico crying in a hidden alcove under one of the stairs. He hadn’t been that close with her back then because she was MIA the year he’d fully integrated into their friend group, having mostly interacted with just Percy and Reyna in his previous years at Hogwarts. But she’s placed a questioning hand on his shoulder, and when he shifted to make room for her, she had pulled him into a hug. And he’d cried.

It was the first time he’d cried so openly in front of someone. Cried without anger or resentment into the shoulder of a girl he barely knew. Into the shoulder of a girl who’d been Percy Jackson’s number one priority, a girl who his sister died to save.

And once he’d calmed down, they talked. She told him that she felt partially responsible for Bianca, maybe not for her death directly, but because in the end, it was for Annabeth that Bianca had sacrificed herself. Well, Annabeth and the rest of the school, but it’s a long story. They had talked and talked and talked and eventually realised that they both felt better. It was dark by the time they returned from the alcove, and curfew had most likely passed, so Annabeth decided to pull him into the Ravenclaw common room, where they had a stash of food (because of course they did), and they’d both fallen asleep on the couch. Nico woke up the next day in one of sectioned off parts of the common room, for people who needed a little privacy because let’s face it, rooming with people is tough. He had a blanket tucked up to his chin, a mug of tea and a plate of food on the table, and his school bag tucked against the couch alongside a note that simply said: “Take your time,” alongside the Ravenclaw common room password of the week.

The rest was history. Nico started to skip his classes, opting instead to go to Hogsmeade, or the nearby muggle town. He would slink around the secret passages of the school, or sleep somewhere in the grass for hours, not really caring if he was found.

On some of these excursions, Annabeth would join him. He was never exactly sure how she managed, since he didn’t tell anyone when and where he was going, but she showed. Sometimes they talked, other times they sat in silence. More than a few times Annabeth would ramble about what she was learning in her classes as a way to organize her own mind. Still, she kept almost a perfect score in nearly every class, and Nico learned from her ramblings, and in his third year, when he was still quite liberal on attending class (mostly due to his investigation of the remnants of the labyrinth he had found the year previous, and his adamant refusal to be anywhere near Quintus due to his “vibes”), Annabeth handed down some of her old notes for him to use. Those notes, some tutoring from Persephone over the summer, and Reyna’s insistence to keep him up to date on everything  _ she _ learned, are what ultimately led him to skipping a whole grade, despite missing almost two years of classes.

The group kept talking long after the bell rung, they kept talking well into the second class, and the third, and then it was lunch. It had been so long since any of them were scared of being reprimanded for breaking rules that they didn’t even try to conceal the fact that they were all walking together, from the same common room, rather than from all the different classes they were supposed to be attending. Considering all the life threatening shit they’ve been through, detention was no longer a real punishment to them. 

“If it isn’t the class skippers,” Jason said as they all settled into their seats.

“If it isn’t Mr Moral Compass,” Piper replied, raising her brows. Jason rolled his eyes. You couldn’t beat Piper in these sorts of things.

“So did you guys make a plan? On how to defend against… The Old Man,” Frank whispered, looking way more conspicuous than one should when having normal lunch conversation. Because this was normal lunch conversation for them. For once, Leo wished his life was more normal, or at least had less imminent danger and possible death at every turn. 

“There’s literally no need to whisper. I doubt anyone would hear us if we yelled.” Percy was still mad, but it was a lot less like a building tsunami and more like slightly aggressive waves. “But yes. We have a plan. Or an idea. It’s… something.”

And so they explained. Nico and Reyna told everyone else about the Room of Requirement, or as Leo adamantly called it, The Door That Leads Anywhere. Then Annabeth started talking about how they were going to teach everyone how to defend themselves, how Hera wasn’t going to be of any help so they decided to defend themselves however they could. Percy chimed in a lot, with slightly unrealistic add-ons and hopeful chatter. Though they kind of talked over each other, Percy and Annabeth made an amazing team. They were so convincing that even Leo was hyped up about teaching magic despite his track record of losing control. There was something about the way that they were so in sync, that even though they interrupted one another, everything was just one long speech split between them, the words all seemed planned, even though he knew there was no way they could have been. Leo took a second to thank the gods for uniting those two, as long as they’re together, anything seemed possible. 

“Okay,” Jason said after a long moment of silence, “I’m in.”

“It wasn’t exactly an option,” Piper replied, “But alright.”

“I’m sure we can convince Persephone to give us a hand.” Hazel nudged Nico, who nodded.

“Then it’s settled.” Annabeth clapped once. “Meet at the Door tomorrow after class. Bring some books… or something. We’ll figure it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i made a tumblr for like writing and stuff. i guess
> 
> follow if u wish
> 
> https://bandaidsandbrokenthings.tumblr.com/
> 
> k thanks till next time byeee


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to be completely honest, this is just a filler chapter.  
i didn't intend for it to be but sometimes i just start writing and then things get off topic and i like what i wrote so i dont delete it and then its just a 1.7k drabble of absolutely nothing.   
dw tho next chapter will be the dance thing happening and maybe some plot if i can find it lmao
> 
> enjoy!!

They did not, in fact, ‘figure it out.’ 

Well they did, but not in the way Nico expected them to. They went to the door after classes, as they planned, and they brought a few housemates, which was… less planned but still a good thing. They all shuffled into the Room, which provided them with a giant table surrounded by cushioned chairs and mugs that seemed to fill of their own accord. Everyone settled in, with Percy and Annabeth (the unofficial leaders of anything that was related to the Snake Dude and the possibly impending war) at the head of the table. 

Their ‘meeting’ was over three hours long, simply because of everyone’s conflicting schedules. How people had schedules when the only real extracurriculars were Quidditch and Hogsmeade, Nico didn’t know. He mostly sat back, listening to everyone jabber on and occasionally rolling his eyes. Sometimes Leo, who was sitting across the table from him, would look at Nico and sigh overdramatically, prompting a smile Nico always tried to hide behind his mug. 

He really wasn’t ready for another Percy situation. 

Once the schedule had been decided, Annabeth and Reyna told the rest of the group about a special means of communication they invented specifically for this… was it a club? No one really knew. Anyways, they held up a leather cord with some painted beads on it. It was safe to say that everyone was confused. 

“We charmed it so that if anyone ever needs help, they just have to cast a simple charm and it’ll spell out the person’s location on everyone else’s necklace.” Nico held the necklace up to his face. “It can also be used to communicate the location of the next meeting of this…” She turned to Percy. “What are we calling this?” Percy was tying the necklace. He shrugged. Annabeth rolled her eyes. “We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, try to keep the necklaces on you at all times. You can tie it around your neck or your wrist and if anyone asks you what they are, just say it’s like a friendship thing.” She gestured to her own necklace and then to Reyna’s, which were matching. It was cute. 

“Any questions?” Leo raised his hand.

“Are these flammable?” 

Annabeth smiled. “Nope. They’re also waterproof, and shock absorbent and will write insults if someone without authorization tries to use them.”

“Nice.” Leo looped his own necklace around his neck, and cast a quick charm under his breath. The beads turned orange and on them “Hot Stuff” was written in the Thrasher font. Nico couldn’t help but laugh. 

The meeting wrapped up soon after, since everyone was engrossed with changing the colours and designs of their necklaces. Humans truly were a marvel, getting excited by the simplest thing. Nico’s own necklace was black, and on the center bead sat a silver skull. It matched the ring that sat on a longer chain around his neck. One of the last things Bianca ever gave him. 

The room had cleared out quite fast, everyone eager to be on their way after hours of seemingly menial discussions, but it’s not like most of them were even supposed to be there in the first place. Originally, the purpose of the meeting had been to discuss tactics on teaching and spreading the word about their little club without getting in trouble. They were also supposed to talk about whether or not they would get select teachers involved. Instead, it turned into a three hour information session, punctuated every ten minutes or so by Jason saying: “I don’t know guys, it just doesn’t seem right to do this.”

There were a lot of glares sent his way. 

Nico could understand where he was coming from. He was the son of the Minister (but not Hera’s child, which was kind of a Yikes to be honest), and yet he was raised by his drunkard mother for a few years before he was kidnapped by a literal wolf and sent to live with the Ministry’s reserve military, until he received his Hogwarts letter and reunited with his long lost sister who thought he was dead. So yeah, maybe he did have a bit of a stick up his ass, but honestly, after a life like that, he could be a lot worse. 

“Now that it’s just us,” Percy said, “We need to discuss who else we’ll involve.” 

They had moved from the long table to the couches where Nico’s group had discussed their Charms project. 

“I think the dance would be a good time to scout people. We could slip them a note or something later on, see if they’re interested,” Frank suggested.

“It’s all so risky though,” Annabeth said, “We’d have to be sure they wouldn’t tell on us.”

“I haven’t met anyone who actually  _ likes _ Hera.” Leo shrugged, “Or even the Minister for that matter. Sorry Jason.” Jason said nothing. Nico figured he was tired of defending a father he’d never even met. A few years ago he would have probably shared the sentiment. “I’m sure that anyone who fought last year would be up for it, so we could scout them out, if they weren’t here already.”

“Leo’s right,” Nico chimed, “Tons of Slytherins who were indifferent on the Serpent Lord of Time started to actively revolt against him after last year.” Percy and Piper nodded.

“It’s just a matter of the new students and everyone who wasn’t at the Labyrinth.” Annabeth picked up a notebook that probably wasn’t there a second ago. She flipped through the first few pages. “This is everyone who fought. They all survived except… well.” She placed the notebook on the table, and everyone’s eyes stuck on the last name, the only one written in red. The air thickened, memories flicking behind clouded eyes.

Percy ran a hand through his hair, eyes shut tight. Reyna thumbed a scar on her shoulder, Piper’s hand flitted over one on her knee. Only Hazel seemed unaffected. Well, as unaffected as you could be when a tragedy was weighing over everyone who surrounded you. They didn’t let anyone in her year fight, or anyone in Nico’s year for that matter. But Nico wasn’t at school enough to know that. 

“At least,” Hazel said, “We know that they’ll rally around you.” She looked at Percy. “When we were in the Great Hall last year, everyone kept talking about how we would win. That there was no way we’d lose when Percy Jackson was on our side. And when they spoke about you, it wasn’t as a single being. It seemed like you were a kind of spokesperson for anyone who decided to stand up and fight.” Her eyes gleamed, and silent tears dripped down Percy’s face. “Percy Jackson is a symbol of hope. And an inspiration. We can use that to our advantage.” A small grin edged its way onto her face. “Let’s show these fuckers who’s boss.” 

“Hell yeah,” Leo said, fist pumping the air. Piper was nodding vigorously, and everyone else had smiles pulled on their faces. 

“We need a game plan,” Frank said, once everyone had calmed down and reloaded on snacks. “Percy doesn’t have a date, so he can use that to try and seek specific people out, maybe get some of the older students to join.”

“Annabeth and I can scout out new people,” Reyna said. Privately, Nico thought that was a bad idea, since the two were already terrifying when separated, but put them together, and he wasn’t sure anyone would have the guts to talk to them.

“Sounds good,” Frank continued, “Me and Haze can talk to the younger students, since they have almost zero experience in Defense. They’ll need the training.”

“Piper and Jason can be on the lookout. If you see a teacher coming near any of us in conversation, create a diversion, intercept them, or find a way to warn us.” 

“I’m fantastic at being distracting,” Piper said. “And Jason is fantastic at not breaking rules, which is exactly what we’re doing.” Jason grunted, but nodded to show his agreement.

“And di Angelo and I,” Leo said, sitting on the armrest of Nico’s chair and slinging an arm onto his shoulders (a move which may or may not have made him forget to breath for a second. You can’t prove anything), “Can hassle people we already know.”

“For a second there I thought you were going to make me meet new people,” Nico said, un-slinging Leo’s arm from his shoulders. Leo quirked an eyebrow.

“Well,  _ now _ I might.” 

“Don’t you  _ dare _ , Valdez.” Nico shot him a playful glare

“Get a room guys,” Piper interjected, “We are  _ trying _ to have a serious adult conversation.” Leo rolled his eyes, and Nico felt his face heating up.

“Pipes, you’re literally upside down, eating chips,” Leo said.

“And what about it.” Leo shot Nico one of his dry looks with the implied sigh. 

He  _ really _ didn’t want another Percy situation. But his stupid traitorous body decided to laugh, though giggle was probably a better word. In a sad attempt to control his laugh, he succeeded in making it even more hysterical than before, and soon, the laughter spread to everyone. 

The Room really had a penchant for leaving them in breathless giggles. It was sorely needed though, especially after all the recently shed tears. Nico was almost as dehydrated as the time he got stuck in the labyrinth with only a specter for company. Still, this room was one of the only places in the castle that wasn’t tainted by a memory of war or pain. Here, it seemed like the last few years hadn’t happened, like their lives weren’t at stake due to a war that was thrust upon them. An inheritance they wanted to be rid of. 

In this room, they were just dumb magical teenagers, doing what dumb magical teenagers do. Which in this case was laughing themselves into a frenzy. At some point, Piper had slowly slid off the couch, her legs still hooked over the armrest. Jason had curled up, and Percy was kicking his legs wildly. Annabeth and Reyna and Hazel all had tears on their faces, and Frank was clutching his stomach. 

Nico had also fallen off his chair, and from his uncomfortable perch on the floor, he saw Leo, sitting in his old spot, beautiful smile splitting his face wide open. He swore internally. Someone was going to get hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone WILL get hurt.
> 
> its me.
> 
> im hurting my own feelings.

**Author's Note:**

> im sorry if there are any inaccuracies in hogwarts, my memory is trash and im Too Lazy to google things.
> 
> characters in their houses:
> 
> Gryffindor: Reyna, Jason  
Ravenclaw: Annabeth, Leo  
Hufflepuff: Hazel, Frank, Grover, Will  
Slytherin: Nico, Percy, Piper
> 
> the title is from the good the bad and the dirty by panic! at the disco


End file.
